Nigeria will remain polio-free, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday identified the downturn in the nation’s economy and insecurity in some states as some of the challenges facing the nation’s desire to completely eradicate wild polio virus.

He, however, promised that his administration would continue to ensure timely release of required funds for the eradication of the disease.

This was contained in the President’s statement on the second anniversary of the last time the polio virus was recorded in Nigeria.

The last case was reported on July 24, 2014.

This is as the acting World Health Organisation Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Rex Mapazanje said, in a statement by the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Ado Muhammad, stated, “The National Laboratories in Nigeria have been vigilant in monitoring for polio cases. We must continue to be on alert for any sign of the virus through heightened surveillance, particularly in the vulnerable populations including insurgency-hit areas of North-East Nigeria and the adjoining areas of Cameroon, Chad and Niger.”

President Buhari congratulated all stakeholders who made the achievement possible and those who he said had worked tirelessly to maintain the effort and permanently halt new polio cases in the country.

He said the next major milestone for the country would be the certification of polio-free status in 2017 by the World Health Organisation.

He said his administration remained firm in its commitment towards making this a reality by continuing to support routine immunisation and the revitalisation of the primary health care system.

He said, “We recognise the power of global partnership to achieve a polio-free world and Nigeria will continue to honour its commitment to ensure that this disease is wiped out.

“In the last 14 months since this administration came into office, we have had a number of challenges in the drive to eradicate polio.

“The downturn in the economy, the frequent disruption of services by health workers, the insecurity in some of the eleven polio high-risk states, are just some of the rivers we must cross to achieve our objective and protect our children against this preventable disease.

“We will continue to do our best to ensure timely release of funds required for polio eradication programmes. The good health and well-being of Nigerian children remain an important part of our drive to national development.

“We have demonstrated our strong commitment in this regard with the allocation of N12.6bn in the 2016 budget for vaccines and programmes to prevent childhood killer diseases such as polio, measles, yellow fever and others.”

Buhari applauded the support of religious and traditional leaders through the years and urged others who are yet to lend their weight to the laudable task, to do so.

He described polio eradication as a collective effort that requires the support of all communities including parents, guardians, teachers, health workers, international partners and leaders.

He said, “I thank our development partners, particularly WHO, UNICEF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aliko Dangote Foundation, USAID, US-Centre for Disease Control, Rotary International, and a host of others who contributed financially and materially to this effort. Together we can achieve our vision to make polio a thing of the past,” the President added.

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